Need to make sure you can find a beloved eagle in case it ever decides it’d rather land in an abandoned lot in Notasulga than midfield at Jordan-Hare like we’re all secretly terrified it will every home game? There’s an app for that.
The eagle experts at Auburn’s Southeastern Raptor Rehabilitation Center are now keeping in-flight tabs on their birds using Tagg the Pet Tracker, a sophisticated but simple to use GPS monitoring systems that allows pet owners (and eagle handlers) to track an animal’s location, as well as its activity, online or via smartphone app. Because telemetry is so 2011.
Tagg is providing the technology to Auburn as a charitable gift-in-kind.
“It’s awe-inspiring to watch such a deep-rooted tradition blend effortlessly with modern technology,” Tagg CEO Scott Neuberger said in a press release. “Tagg already monitors the location of pets nationwide over 3.6 million times a day, and it is our great honor to work with Auburn to ensure that Nova and Spirit are now fully protected every time they take flight.”
The small Tagg devices weigh just over an ounce, and attach to the tail feathers of Nova and Spirit without ruffling their feathers or interfering with with their ability to fly.
“It is very reassuring to have this GPS technology on our birds and makes our flights even safer than ever,” said Raptor Center assistant director Marianne Hudson, who helped acquire the technology for Auburn.
“These birds perform in hundreds of educational presentations each year and their free flights are a great opportunity for the public to experience our missions of education, rehabilitation and conservation in action. Knowing that we can locate their near exact location quickly and easily is very comforting and boosts our ability to fly these eagles safely.”
Now if we can just get them to attach those “OMG WHY ISN’T AUBURN DOING THIS?!” cameras…
Photo via.
Related: Family in Luxury Box Recalls Eagle Encounter, Photographs ‘Eagle Grease’.
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There’s currently a “discussion” going on between like-minded fans and the Raptor Center’s Facebook personnel about the in-flight camera. And by, “discussion”, I mean, everyone but the Raptor Center wants this to happen. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=602595843111807&set=a.274373935934001.62813.211401068897955&type=1
Auburn Elvis doing work on the Raptor Center’s FB page.
How expensive could it really be for them to do this for a few home games? The AD might foot the bill if asked.